


Gravity Defying

by river_soul



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-05-30
Packaged: 2018-01-27 14:04:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1713284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/river_soul/pseuds/river_soul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s not perky, I don’t have perky hair.”</p><p>“But you do,” she argued, gaining back some of her momentum now that Sheppard wasn’t grinning and flirting. “Half of Atlantis thinks you’re buying stock in hair gel. Ask Rodney if you don’t believe me.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gravity Defying

**Author's Note:**

  * For [koalathebear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalathebear/gifts).



> This was written for a challenge issued by [](http://koalathebear.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://koalathebear.livejournal.com/)**koalathebear**. The challenge included use of Novak and Sheppard and the words nomenclature, uncertainty and wildebeest. Clearly she is an evil woman. ;)

“It’s a wildebeest,” Lindsey said finally, grinning. “I don’t believe it, we’re on another planet and there’s a wildebeest.” She sounded a little giddy.

“A what?” Sheppard asked, finger hovering over the safety on his P-90.

“Relax Colonel, they’re not going to eat you.” She said, but Sheppard noted the way she inched back, placing herself between Ronon and him.

_Right_ , he thought.

“Although they have been known to stampede on occasion and crush anything in their path. People included,” she admitted.

“So, no gunfire, sudden movements or loud complaining,” Sheppard assessed and threw a pointed look at Rodney before he gave Lindsey a reassuring smile.

She blushed a little, not giving in to the urge to smile back and turn her head coyly as she’d seen other women do. Sheppard was infamous for his ability to flirt with anything even remotely female and Lindsey prided herself on being level headed. She hadn’t been fooled by a pretty face since that one incident in the eighth grade with Toby Mekem.

“Yes, yes, very dramatic, we’ve all seen the Lion King, Dr. Novak,” Rodney interrupted Lindsey’s thoughts with a dismissive wave. “If we’re done with this informative talk, could we please get walking? Our power source reading is a little over a five mile hike and since we can’t fly the Puddle Jumper without crashing and dying horribly, we should get moving.”

“Right people, let’s move out,” Sheppard ordered.

Lindsey watched as he and Ronon put themselves between the animals and the rest of the team while cautiously working around the herd. Their presence was reassuring, but the knot in Lindsey’s throat didn’t loosen until they had left the beast far behind. Soon after, her shoulders began to hurt, a dull ache in her back from the weight of her pack. She was thankful it was cloudy at least. She wasn’t sure she could stand the heat in all the gear the off world teams were required to wear. It was a far cry from her light cotton jumpsuit she should have been wearing if Caldwell hadn’t been in the mood to start another pissing contest with Weir.

Lindsey didn’t even understand what she doing on this mission. Caldwell had simply showed up on the Engineering deck and, despite Hermiod’s protest, yanked her out in the middle of their tests. He put her in an Atlantean uniform and gave her a sidearm. She wasn’t sure the weapon would be of any help, past its effectiveness as a blunt object andLindsey had never had very good aim anyway.

“-have those animals on your planet?” Teyla inquired. Lindsey blinked, realizing the Athosian woman was speaking to her.

“Not many, they’re mostly found in Africa. We use the same nomenclature as your cows,” she hurried to explain, noticing Sheppard’s quirked eyebrow. “I use to watch a lot of the Discovery channel, ok,” she added defensively.

“Are they hunted as game?” Teyla asked with patient interest.

“Oh nonono.” Lindsey said, waving her hands. “They’re usually left to their own devices by humans.”

“Then what purpose do they serve?” Teyla asked and that was when Lindsey caught her and Sheppard exchanging a glance. _Oh_. She realized then why Teyla had been so very interested in talking to her. They were trying to distract and reassure her. It seemed her reputation preceded her, which honestly was rather embarrassing.

“Oh, uh, Rodney told you about zoos right?” Lindsey asked, wondering how long she’d be stuck explaining crazy earth culture to Teyla before they came to a silent agreement that she wasn’t going to flip out on them anytime soon.

“Yes, Major Sheppard and Dr. McKay have made references to such places before.” Teyla assured her with a patient but mystified smile. Lindsey supposed their culture and ways did seem a bit odd to people from the Pegasus galaxy. Everything here was basic, centered on survival; there wasn’t room for things as frivolous as zoos.

“If I ever visit Earth,” Teyla said, interrupting Lindsey’s thoughts again. “I should think I’d like to visit a zoo, as well as a mall.”

“I told Teyla I’d take her to the mall, just so long as I wasn’t paying. Something tells me our galaxies aren’t _that_ different.” Sheppard cut in with a little laugh that irked Lindsey.

She supposed he thought he was clever. _Honestly_. There was something natural in the way Teyla spoke to her; something in her face that eased Lindsey’s initial embarrassment. Sheppard and his fake smile made her feel like she was back in high school again. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling and she frowned at him even as Teyla smiled good-naturedly.

“If you’ll excuse me I think I might be needed ahead,” Teyla suggested, pointing to where Ronon and Rodney were arguing loudly. “I think it would best to see that Dr. McKay is not headed for any trouble. Dr. Novak it was a pleasure speaking with you,” she said with a slight inclination of her head before catching up with the pair; effectively separating them with a look at Ronon and a power bar for McKay. It took Lindsey a few minutes to process what she was seeing. Rodney McKay was actually behaving himself with Teyla and Lindsey felt a flicker of surprise when he placed a steadying hand on Teyla’s back when she lost her footing on the uneven ground.

They were a family Lindsey realized. The idea that Rodney McKay could actually integrate himself successfully into a gate team seemed alien, but now she could see how it worked. She wondered if she could have had this if she’d signed up when Dr. Weir came for her, if she still could.

“You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden,” Sheppard noted. “What’s got your attention?”

“Uh,” Lindsey breathed, suddenly aware of the fact it was just the two of them, trailing behind the rest of his team. Her and Sheppard. She felt weird being alone with him. Jittery and nervous because of his all American smile and gravity defying hair which, come to think of it, didn’t look within regulations.

“Your hair,” she blurted out, which actually seemed to confuse Sheppard. She would have laughed if she hadn’t been overwhelmed by sudden anger at herself. She didn’t like him. Just because he happened to have a nice face and she found the whole thigh holster thing sexy, it was no reason to allow it to affect her.

“You got heat stroke or something doc?” Sheppard asked with concern, reaching out to touch her head.

“No.” She swallowed because his hand was large and warm on her forehead and she couldn’t think. “It’s just that your hair…it’s…it’s…

“Amazing?” He asked with a big grin.

“Unnatural.” She declared a little meanly when he removed his hand. “It’s always…up and sorta perky.” She added, knowing that wasn’t what he was looking for.

“It’s not perky, I don’t have perky hair.”

“But you do,” she argued, gaining back some of her momentum now that Sheppard wasn’t grinning and flirting. “Half of Atlantis thinks you’re buying stock in hair gel. Ask Rodney if you don’t believe me.”

“I’m not going to ask Rodney,” Sheppard said with a look that suggested she was crazy, but she caught him glancing at the scientist ahead, enthusiastically explaining something to Teyla.

“I hear the girls in botany like it a lot. I overheard them talking about it at lunch,” Lindsey’s offered after a moment because he was trying to be nice. He was probably one of those guys that had an _attachment_ to his hair.

“But you don’t like it?” He asked. She wasn’t entirely sure why it mattered.

“I like Ronon’s hair. It’s useful; I bet you could hide all kinds of things in there. Like food possibly,” she said thoughtfully as the three members of his team stopped walking ahead. Rodney could be seen making impatient gestures.

“Hey Captain America, lets go!” Rodney called and Lindsey half snorted and half laughed beside him. “I’m dehydrating as we speak!” He complained as Sheppard made a rude gesture.

“Water bottles,” Lindsey said finally. “I bet you could fit at least two in Ronon’s hair.”

“You know,” Sheppard started slow, “you’re one weird woman.”

“You have weird hair.” Lindsey returned with a grin.

“I guess that makes us even,” Sheppard noted and Lindsey nodded as they jogged to catch up with his team.

“McKay’s way quirkier though,” she added and was rewarded with a laugh from Sheppard as they watched Rodney struggle to reattach his computer to the back of his tack vest. He was failing miserably when Ronon stopped to help him. They made a funny pair standing side by side and Lindsey had been ready to make a remark when she caught Sheppard watching them with a strangely warm expression.

It made Lindsey wonder for the second time that day if she’d made a mistake rebuking Weir’s offer.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Also, new [tumblr](http://river-soul.tumblr.com/) friends are always welcome!


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